This episodic drama embraces the lives of four unlikely heroes - three men and one woman - each consumed in a personal struggle to make sense of their lives that transforms them in ways they never imagined. Karen tries to create some excitement in her frustrating married life by going on shoplifting sprees, as well indulging in other, more dangerous things. Bill has never been able to interact safely with the world around him. He keeps his distance and prefers to exist in a lacklustre state of self-imposed exile. This is a secret world where his dreams proffer a different sense of self, one where he embraces life, conquers his demons and where his encounters with others are powerful and sensual. Frozen in a moment in time, Travis is able to reach out to others but not within, since he bears the guilt for a terrible tragedy, which has scarred him forever.

Gary is also desperate to make a connection. He strives to bridge the gaps and find what is lost. In one defining moment he makes a startling and irreversible decision, which irrevocably and unforgettably transforms him and everyone else.

Karen, the unhappy wife, finds salvation in thrills she knows are forbidden. To her, breaking taboos is empowering. It's all part of a seductive game in which desire leads to obsession and passion - to murder.

Courtesy of the 2007 Berlin Film Festival

--Courtesy of the 2007 Berlin Film Festival

Ryan EslingerMadness and Genius was 25 year-old Ryan Eslinger's first feature film. The film premiered at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. It is the 2003 recipient of The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize in Science and Technology [awarded at the Hamptons Film Festival], and the film also garnered Ryan a 2004 Independent Spirit Award nomination [the "Someone to Watch" Award]. Ryan was accepted into the 2004 Sundance Screenwriters Lab, the 2005 Sundance Directors Lab, and the 2005 Cannes Film Festival program L'Atelier.

PRECEDED BY SHORT FILM

OTHER HALF, THEUSA, 2006, 8:00 mins, Color

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A man can't seem to figure out what's missing in his life until he comes across a man who seems oddly familiar, sleeping in his closet.